“There’s a lot of heated rhetoric. Many, many people in the country feel like they don’t have a very good choice on either side of the aisle,” Fortenberry tells reporters at a news conference in Lincoln. “I think, if both candidates want to have a broader appeal, it’s to talk to specific policy initiatives that they’re going to undertake.”

Fortenberry says voters are tired of the campaign dynamics, but he thinks the situation reflects the deep philosophical divide in the country.

He says government solutions alone will not fix the country’s problems.

“You have to have national security, economic security, and what I call family security, which is social conservation, in order for our society to be healthy and good,” he says.

Fortenberry says the country needs more non-government institutions that encourage community, teach responsibility, and care for one another after the election is over.

“Going back to this idea of not only constructive solutions at the national level, but talking about the deeper needs of people, the values that make America great, is really what, I think, should be emphasized,” Fortenberry says.